BBC Merlin: A Heart Of Gold Chapter Eleven

The hills looked like a desert of grassy green sand dunes that flowed like waves across the landscape. They were not particularly large, the biggest being about twenty feet tall. The largest one was in the centre of all the hills and had a large triangular shaped rock poking out of the earth. The rock was jagged and of a brownish grey colour and was quite boring if you looked only at the side that faced away from the mountains in the far distance. If you were to take the time to go around and look at the other side you would see that the whole of that face was made of glass that had a diamond like sheen over it, giving it the vague appearance of quartz except it wasn’t so clouded. The rock was pretty big, about the size of a smallish house.

The wet wind whipped at Merlin relentlessly, blowing his coat to one side and then another as it changed direction. It was raining slightly and the ice-cold flecks of water bit into his skin making him wish that a tree had thought to plant its self nearby. There were no trees or any other kind of shelter in the open landscape for miles, which made it unbearably cold but Merlin reflected that he wouldn’t be frozen for long. He was after all, going to the sun.

“So…what exactly do I do now?” Merlin asked Gaius who was stood a little way off, holding the reins of their horses.

“Use the spell on the scroll I suppose.” Gaius suggested.

Merlin dug into his pocket and found the sheet that he had stuffed there earlier. Holding it in one hand he began to recite the spell to the glassy rock before him.

“Nus eht ot em ekat.” He said, throwing his hand out at the rock.

If less than nothing could happen, it did.

“It didn’t work.” Merlin frowned.

“I can see that. Try again.” Gaius said.

Merlin tried the spell again and once again nothing happened.

“Are you sure you’re doing it right?” Gaius said, coming over to Merlin and peering closely at the scroll.

“Well I did what it said but it’s not exactly detailed!”

“Maybe you have to say it differently.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Try saying it in different volumes.”

“I don’t think that’s going to help.”

“Its worth a try. Go on.”

Merlin sighed and began to shout the spell at the rock.

“NUS EHT OT EM EKAT!” He yelled.

The rock did nothing so Merlin tried the spell in a whisper. Once again nothing happened.

“Maybe it didn’t hear you…” Gaius said thoughtfully.

“It’s a rock. It can’t hear anything.” Merlin sighed.

“Merlin if you don’t-“

“I know, I know…” Merlin stopped as an idea suddenly grew slowly into his head.

He stuffed the scroll into Gaius’s hand and slowly approached the rock until his nose was only a few centimetres away from its glassy surface. He ran a slender finger down the smooth glass. As he touched it a strange sensation crept slowly up his fingers like the warmth of a fire. Gaius watched on in interest as the young warlock studied the rock.

Suddenly a ripple erupted from the area his hand was and flowed across the glass like a large stone had been dropped into a lake. Merlin leapt back and watched as the glass continued to ripple and flow like silk. It looked remarkably like water.

“Wow…” He breathed.

“In you go then.” Gaius commanded, breaking the atmosphere the diamond like rock had created.

“Eh?”

“That’s the way to the sun.”

Merlin didn’t argue with him. If there was ever really a portal to the sun then this was it. He took a step towards it and then stopped.

“If…if I don’t make it back…tell Arthur I’m sorry.” He said his voice drenched in emotion.

Gaius wondered how he would tell a golden statue that his friend was sorry but he just nodded in reply; suddenly nervous that maybe Merlin wouldn’t make it back. If he didn’t Gaius would be loosing a person who was like a son to him and he also knew he would not be the only one to miss the young man if he should not return.

Merlin took a deep breath and looked back at the turrets of Camelot far in the distance for a moment think that maybe this was the last time he would set eyes on them.

Tentatively, he walked slowly into the rippling glass that consumed him as he did so.

Story summary

I'm not giving anything away on this one because its all very mysterious but the basic story line (really, really basic) is that Arthur is turned mysteriously into a golden statue and Merlin has to save him.

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